The Los Angeles Lakers officially begin their 2022-23 campaign on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors. Many question marks surround this team as they look to return to the playoffs, but most importantly, Anthony Davis needs to stay healthy.
In a recent interview with Brad Turner of The LA Times, AD was asked about TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley calling him “street clothes” last season, essentially saying he's sidelined more than not. Davis had a powerful response to Barkley's criticism.
“I don’t care what he says,” Davis said. “People say stuff for ratings. Like, they got to push their show, push their blog, push their podcast, whatever it is. So, people got to say something to bring in viewers. It is what it is. I go out there and play basketball and let them do their job. My job is to hoop. Their job is to talk about me.”
Anthony Davis has a point. But, until he's actually available on a consistent basis for LA, the criticism is going to keep pouring in. In fact, playing every single contest is his main focus heading into the campaign:
“I only got one goal and that is to play in all 82 games,” he said. “I want to be available as much as possible for my teammates and my coaches and give ourselves a chance to win every night.”
Davis suited up for just 35 games in 2021-22. Between Russell Westbrook's lack of fit alongside him and LeBron James and AD being injured, it was just a nightmare year. While Bron can still play at a high level as we witnessed, Anthony Davis is the X-factor. If he's healthy and performing at the level of the past, the Lakers will be back in the playoffs. There is no question about it.
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